Friday, August 8, 2014

What Causes Daytime Sleepiness?

Revised guidelines published recently in the “Annals of Internal
Medicine” medical journal discuss new diagnostic criteria for determining whether
or not a patient experiencing daytime fatigue is suffering from sleep apnea. If you often suffer from drowsiness
or other sleep
apnea symptoms, it’s crucial to seek treatment sooner than later.

You might experience insufficient or poor quality sleep from
time to time due to any number of lifestyle factors. Stress, excessive
caffeine, and certain medications can disturb your sleep cycle and make you
feel tired all day even if you got eight hours of shuteye.

However, persistent
daytime fatigue could signify a serious health issue. Sleep apnea is one
potential cause of chronic sleepiness, but other possibilities include:

Diabetes

Migraine headache

Underactive thyroid
(hypothyroidism)

Excess calcium in the
bloodstream (hypercalcemia)

Low sodium levels
(hyponatremia)

Anxiety

Depression

Chronic pain

Some of these conditions will require medical intervention
to help you recover your overall health and good night’s rest. A qualified
physician can evaluate you for fatigue and other symptoms to determine whether
or not you’re suffering from sleep apnea or another disorder.

If you frequently suffer from tiredness during the day or
you feel that the quality of your sleep has lapsed, please contact a local sleep doctor
or call 1 (866) 727-6275 (1-8-NO-PAP-MASK) today to schedule an
evaluation.